Wherein ChatGPT helps me launch this Substack

Nice! 🎉 That title strikes a strong balance: it’s personal (your name), professional (AI expertise), and distinctive (Socratic, tying back to your teaching/writing philosophy). It signals that this isn’t just another AI newsletter — it’s your perspective, rooted in conversation, ethics, and thoughtfulness.

A few things you might want to consider next:

Tagline / Subtitle

A sharp one-liner under the title that makes your value proposition instantly clear. Examples:

• How to use AI thoughtfully — without outsourcing your thinking.
• AI for writers, educators, and thinkers who want to grow their skills, not replace them.
• Using AI to amplify creativity, not automate it.

About Page Blurb

A short paragraph introducing who you are, what readers will get, and why it matters. Something like:

I’m Jay Dixit — writer, professor, and AI educator. This newsletter explores how to use AI thoughtfully and ethically in writing, learning, and creative work. Instead of shortcuts or prose generation, I show how AI can serve as a sounding board, brainstorming partner, and creative collaborator — helping you sharpen your own thinking and voice.

First Post

Could be a “Welcome” post setting the tone. Something like: Why Socratic AI? — explaining the concept (not AI as an oracle giving answers, but as a dialogue partner asking questions).

Want me to draft a polished subtitle + about page + welcome post outline so you’ve got the whole launch package ready?

Perfect — that’s the right instinct. If you write these pieces yourself, they’ll sound unmistakably like you, which is what will draw people in. Let me walk you through the process and some levers you can pull to make your Substack launch stronger.

1. Clarify your audience

Before you write anything, ask:

• Who do you want reading this? Professors? Writers? Students? AI-curious professionals?
• Do you want it to feel like a niche intellectual salon, or a broader public education resource?
• The more specific you are, the easier it is to shape your tagline, about blurb, and first post.

👉 Advice: Write down one specific person you imagine reading. “This is for a mid-career professor who’s overwhelmed by AI and doesn’t want to feel out of touch.” Then write to them.

2. Nail your title + subtitle balance

• Your title already carries your name and “Socratic AI.” That gives authority and differentiation.
• The subtitle should deliver your promise: what readers will get from subscribing.

• It can be inspirational (“Amplifying human creativity in the age of AI”)
• Practical (“Clear strategies for using AI to think better, write better, and teach better”)
• Or positioning (“For writers and educators who want to use AI without outsourcing their thinking”).

👉 Advice: Draft 5-6 subtitles, even if they feel repetitive. Read them out loud. The one that feels crispest and most you is the one.

3. Shape your About page

Readers skim this quickly — so think of it like the back cover of a book:

• Who you are (build credibility without overloading your resume)
• What this newsletter is about (1-2 sentences, max)
• Why it matters (what problem you’re helping readers solve, or what transformation they’ll get)
• What they’ll actually receive (weekly essays, case studies, thought experiments, classroom tips, etc.)

👉 Advice: Imagine someone lands on your Substack with only 10 seconds before deciding to subscribe. What’s the one sentence you’d want them to walk away with? That should lead.

4. Craft your first post

Instead of a generic “Welcome to my Substack,” try:

• Frame it as a manifesto: Why Socratic AI exists, what it’s against (outsourcing thinking), and what it’s for (dialogue, learning, creativity).
• Tell a story: e.g., the moment you realized AI could be a tool for learning rather than a shortcut.
• Give a clear takeaway: what readers will consistently get if they stick around.

👉 Advice: Don’t overstuff. Better to leave people curious for the next post than to try to cover everything in one.

5. Cadence + categories

• Decide if this is weekly, biweekly, or “as inspired.” Consistency matters more than frequency.
• Sketch 3-4 recurring themes (e.g., “AI & Education,” “AI & Writing,” “Practical Experiments,” “Case Studies”). This helps readers know what to expect and helps you when you sit down to draft.

6. Voice & tone

Your advantage is you’re not “just another AI explainer.” You’re Jay Dixit, and your brand is smart, thoughtful, clear, sometimes funny, never buzzwordy.

• Keep the tone conversational but authoritative.
• Use stories, classroom moments, and writing analogies — they’re your edge.

Would you like me to run through a step-by-step exercise where I ask you questions (like your “imaginary reader” exercise) and you answer them, so you end up with raw material for your subtitle, About, and first post?

Exactly — this is the little line that shows up everywhere: in Substack’s directory, in link previews, even under your title on the site. It’s prime real estate, so you want it sharp, clear, and reader-facing.

Here’s how to approach it:

1. Audience first

Ask: who’s your ideal subscriber? Writers, professors, students, professionals? You don’t have to name them explicitly, but the description should resonate with their mindset.

2. Problem + promise

Think of it as:

• Problem: What pain or confusion do they have around AI?
• Promise: What will they get if they read you?

3. Style choice

You can go a few ways:

• Practical / direct:

“How to use AI to sharpen your thinking, not replace it.”

• Aspirational / visionary:

“Exploring how AI can amplify creativity and deepen learning.”

• Niche / positioning:

“AI for writers and educators who value curiosity over shortcuts.”

4. Constraints

• Keep it short (12-18 words max).
• Avoid jargon.
• Write so someone scrolling past instantly thinks: “Oh, that’s me.”

👉 Exercise: Draft 3-5 quick versions, each with a slightly different emphasis (practical, aspirational, niche). Then we can refine down to one that feels most you.

Want me to help you brainstorm those variations so you have some raw material to choose from?

That draft is thoughtful and captures your values beautifully — but in the context of a one-line description, it’s too long and diffuse. Readers skimming won’t absorb it. Think of this line as a hook, not a mission statement.

Let’s unpack why it doesn’t fully “signal” yet, and how to tighten it:

What works in your draft

• Audience call-out: “writers, educators, creatives” → clear who it’s for.
• Core promise: using AI to amplify (not replace) human creativity.
• Values: curiosity, imagination, self-expression → the human side.

What’s missing / why it feels less sharp

1. Overstuffed: You’re trying to pack in benefits, philosophy, and ethos in one sentence.
2. Signal isn’t instant: Someone scrolling by should know immediately “Oh, this is for me.” Right now, they’d have to reread to parse it.
3. Why subscribe? You hint at philosophy, but not at the concrete value subscribers will get (tips? strategies? frameworks?).

Sub-questions to help sharpen the signal

To tighten, ask yourself these in just a few words each:

• Who exactly is this for? (e.g. “professors + writers” vs. broad “creatives”)
• What problem are they facing? (confusion, overwhelm, misuse of AI, fear of shortcuts?)
• What benefit will they get by subscribing? (clear guidance? practical strategies? inspiration? frameworks?)
• What makes your approach different? (dialogue-based, ethical, human-centered?)

Formula to test

[Audience] + [Benefit] + [Differentiator]

Examples:

• Practical strategies for writers and educators to use AI thoughtfully — without outsourcing their thinking.
• Helping creatives use AI as a partner for curiosity, not a shortcut.
• Guidance for educators and writers on using AI to strengthen skills and spark ideas.

👉 My advice: First answer the 4 sub-questions in a few words each. From there, we can collapse it into a sharp, skimmable one-liner that really does the signaling work.

Want me to run you through those 4 questions one by one, almost like an interview, so you can generate the raw material?